before proceed, i would like to offer my sincere condolences to the people of japan. as they work to recover from one of them worst natural disasters in their history. for many years now, japan has been a stalwart partner in afghanistan and an important contributor to the mission there. now our thoughts and prayers are with our longtime allies and with all those in japan affected by the earthquake and tsunami. >> if i could just interrupt you, i think in expressing the sentiments you are speaking for everyone on this committee and every american. thank you for doing that. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> it is our assessment that the momentum achieved by the taliban in afghanistan since 2005 has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in a number of important areas. however, while the security progress achieved over the past year is significant, it is also fragile and reversible. it is clear much difficult work lies ahead with our afghan partners to solidify and expand our gains in the face of the expected taliban spring offensive. nonetheless, the hard-fought